Multifunctional elements and multifunctional operating devices for motor vehicles are known in various form. Using such multifunctional operating devices, different units in a motor vehicle, for example, radio, CD player, navigation system, on-board computer or telephone system, are able to be controlled by a single operating device. Multifunctional operating devices are described, for instance, in European Published Patent Application No. 0 701 926, which describes a multifunctional operating device in which a screen as well as one or more keypads are used.
A further multifunctional operating device is described in German Published Patent Application No. 199 41 963, in which likewise a screen as well as control buttons located on the edge of the screen are used.
A further possibility for operative control, which is being used increasingly in the case of electronic devices, is operative control with the aid of touch-sensitive screens, referred to as touchscreens. Here, operating elements such as push buttons or slide controls are able to be displayed directly on the touch-sensitive screen and operated by touching this screen. For example, the use of such touchscreens is widespread in mobile phones. In this manner, various operator interfaces for operating different functions and devices may be displayed flexibly on the screen.
However, in using a multifunctional operating device having a touch-sensitive screen for displaying different operator interfaces, the problem may arise that for many applications, the operator interface is so complex that, for example, the operative control could distract a driver of a motor vehicle to such an extent that safe driving of the vehicle would no longer be ensured.
In particular, such a distraction of the driver may occur if the multifunctional operating device is used as client and the application is running on a server; in many cases, the server may also be a mobile telephone, so that in such a case, an application of the mobile telephone is displayed on the multifunctional operating device. As a rule, such applications on mobile telephones are not optimized for use in a vehicle and may therefore lead especially easily to a distraction.
Regarding this, it is described in German Published Patent Application No. 100 39 795 to generally monitor the attentiveness of a driver and to output a warning, if necessary. U.S. Pat. No. 6,262,657 describes warning a driver if telephoning using a mobile telephone is leading to an unstable driving situation.